Former Anheuser-Busch media and sports marketing chief Tony Ponturo is buying a minority interest in the Leverage Agency and becoming chairman of the New York-based sponsorship, consulting and media sales firm.

The move ends constant industry speculation about the next career move by Ponturo, 56, who has been described many times as the most powerful man in sports because of the size of the Anheuser-Busch media and sports sponsorship budgets.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Leverage was established by Ben Sturner more than three years ago and the agency is principally involved in corporate consulting and sports property and media sales. Its corporate clients include KFC and Gillette, for which it engineered a title sponsorship of “The Young Guns Celebrity Race” broadcast on ABC two years ago.

Leverage also represents the AVP for sponsorship and media sales, along with Major League Gaming, Disson Skating on NBC, the ASA Action Sports Tour, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and the New Jersey Nets.

Ponturo’s interest in theater — he is associate producer of the revival of “Hair” on Broadway — is bound to lead to more entertainment sponsorships.

Leverage already is selling sponsorships for the new “Spider-Man” musical, with music by U2’s Bono. Overseas, Leverage partnered with Prescient Marketing in Beijing to sell naming rights and other sponsorship rights at China’s Bird’s Nest.

Ponturo said he will keep his recently established Ponturo Management, but will partner with Leverage on a variety of projects.

“I’ve worked with Ben on some projects and respect his character and his hustle,” Ponturo said. “This also allows me to build and tap into a marketing infrastructure without having to reinvent the wheel on my own. This is a business where you learn to read people or you can’t be successful and I have quickly developed a lot of confidence in Ben. This deal just felt right.”

Before founding Leverage, Sturner was at Bennett Global Marketing Group, where he did work on behalf of such brands as Reebok and Dunkin’ Donuts, and he also held marketing slots at Lycos. In the agency world, Sturner has developed a reputation as a tireless hustler and someone fearless to pitch anyone, at any level, at any time. Ponturo will presumably open doors for Leverage that were previously closed.

“You’ve got a proven strategic leader in Tony, combined with a growth company, which really sets us up to expand,” said Peter Feigin, a founding board member at Leverage who is also senior vice president with Marquis Jet. “With the kind of legitimacy Tony adds, Leverage can now go after brands at the Fortune 100 level.”

Still, even with Ponturo’s considerable clout, moving from buying to selling can be difficult.

“Corporate consulting, athlete rep, and sports sales are generally crowded and mature, so you really have to be prepared to dig in the dirt with a lot of competitors,” said former Gatorade sports marketing chief Tom Fox, who made that transition twice, switching from Gatorade to the NBA, and later from another Gatorade job to WMG. “You learn who your friends are when you don’t have a marketing budget to spend.”

Ponturo left St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch last year after its $52 billion takeover by Belgium brewer InBev. A-B is now a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev.